Tag Archives: kxt on broadway

Review: Ophelia Thinks Harder (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Mar 14 – 29, 2025
Playwright: Jean Betts and W Shakespeare
Director: Alex Kendall Robson
Cast: Zachary Aleksander, Julie Bettens, Eleni Cassimatis, Shaw Cameron, Richard Hilliar, Brea Macey, Pat Mandziy, Lucy Miller, Finley Penrose, Hannah Raven
Images by Phil Erbacher

Theatre review
Written in 1993, Jean Betts’ Ophelia Thinks Harder seems today almost desperate in its need to demonstrate, that Shakespeare’s women are no fools, even if Shakespeare had intended them to be portrayed as such. How we perceive of the Bard’s oeuvre has changed in recent years, thanks to efforts of those just like Betts, who have had enough of the gendered denigration inherent in his ubiquitous writing.

Even though strong and considered, Ophelia Thinks Harder does feel superseded in its attitude. Direction by Alex Kendall Robson offers little that could provide an update, to a style of feminist theatre that seems very much of the previous wave. Performer Brea Macey is convincing as a disturbed Ophelia, intense in her portrayal of a young woman awaking to the injustice that she is destined for. Shaw Cameron impresses as a comical but despicable Hamlet, as does Lucy Miller who brings a valuable irony to her measured depictions of the play’s maternal characters.

A visually pleasing set design by Hannah Yardley and Jimi Rawlings proves effective in addressing various scenic requirements. Costumes by Robson are inconsistently rendered, with some pieces more imaginatively assembled than others. Lighting by Sophie Parker can be more detailed in approach, but is nonetheless skilled in calibrating atmospheric transformations. Sounds by David Wilson too can be more rigorous in their enhancements, but are successful in implementing a sense of drama at key moments.

For some, all this debate about Shakespeare is tired to say the least, but his omnipresence in the West remains undeniable. We can see the extent to which his legacy is fundamental to the ways we regard the arts, and how pervasive his influence has been, in our assessments of merit in theatre. Feminism should want to make him irrelevant, to make all that he stands for no longer central to how we experience the world, but the patriarchy’s obstinance is one of its main features. A thorn in the side insists on wearing a person down, but it also functions as a reminder of the bigger harms it is always poised to reinstate.

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.fingerlesstheatre.com

Review: Don’t Save Me (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Feb 26 – Mar 8, 2025
Playwright: Karina Young
Director: Nelson Blake
Cast: Raechyl French, Ben Itaba, Holly Mazzola
Images by Phil Erbacher

Theatre review
Jade is not only battling a terminal illness, she has to fight her husband Pat who plans to create a digital facsimile of her, using the latest in AI technology. As well as the subject of consent, Don’t Save Me by Karina Young explores the ethics around the replication or simulation of a person after death. Although timely, the play is insufficiently imaginative, with a persistent mundanity to its dialogue that makes a fascinating concept seem almost banal.

Direction by Nelson Blake places emphasis on locating the emotional truth of the piece, and little more, resulting in an experience that feels somewhat pedestrian. There is however a great sense of commitment on the stage, with cast members Raechyl French, Ben Itaba and Holly Mazzola, bringing diligence to their interpretations of characters.

Production design by Andrea Knezevic offers efficient solutions that transform the space into a conventional living room. Lights by Topaz Marlay-Cole help render an elegance to the imagery being presented, and sounds by Felix Partos are introduced at key moments to enhance tension.

Don’t Save Me is not quite science fiction, as the circumstance it depicts has already arrived, yet we are still struggling to grapple with that new reality. Technology forges ahead whether we welcome or resist it. We have in the past been able to shape its development, but in this age of tech autocracy, there is little that our democratic will can do.

The billionaires who rule technology are completely impervious to any of our objections. We continue to think that how we spend our money is able to sway their operations, but it is evident that their wealth has become so immense that any reduction in profit we can effect, no longer means anything. Legal recourses have proven ineffectual, even as they are being taken over by a new era of oligarchy. It is only revolution that remains, but it is doubtful if we can awaken soon enough, from this soporific state of our tech-fuelled stupor.

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.instagram.com/puncherschanceco/

Review: Cruise (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Feb 12 – 22, 2025
Playwright: Jack Holden
Director: Sean Landis
Cast: Fraser Morrison
Images by Abraham de Souza

Theatre review
Almost four decades on, Michael still needs to talk about the trauma, and fortunately, his story is one that younger generations will always need to hear. HIV may no longer be the death sentence it used to be, but it is in many ways an enduring tragedy that continues to reverberate deeply for queer communities everywhere.

Michael’s reminiscences are not only about those he has lost, but also about the burden those of us left behind, have had to carry. Survivor guilt and social stigma are issues that prompt Michael to call a helpline, at the start of Jack Holden’s Cruise, but as well as being sublimely mournful, the play is also packed with joy. Michael’s personal history is one of liberation – from tradition, from persecution, and from debilitating disease.

The immense depth of Holden’s writing delivers a theatrical experience that many will find powerful, if not completely transcendental. Coupled with dynamic and incisive work by Sean Landis on direction, Cruise is profoundly reflective, along with being fabulously and irresistibly entertaining.

Actor Fraser Morrison delivers this one-person show with a wonderful sincerity that invites our open hearts to observe and share in all the pain, redemption and exaltation, that he so assiduously brings to the stage. Morrison’s capacity for a great range of temperaments and attitudes, keeps us enthralled as he portrays countless characters, in this important recollection of a gay legacy. Assisted by choreographer Jeremy Lloyd’s sophisticated eye in movement, Morrison’s physicality is framed with considerable beauty, in his depictions of gay lives past and present.

Production design by Chelsea May Wheatley provides effective spatial demarcations that allow for a kineticism that the presentation uses to generate urgency. Wheatley’s sound design is admirably thorough, inspiring strong visceral responses to a show that contains an abundance of sentimentality. Lights by Tom Hicks are sensitively and imaginatively rendered, cleverly transportive as we explore time and space in both internal and external, or psychic and material ways.

The trajectory for us can only be forward, but as perpetual outsiders, the journey is always turbulent and arduous. We can always see brighter futures, and even in the darkest moments, we have been able to summon optimism and faith, not only for the betterment of our spirit, but also to propel us ahead in achieving actual improvements for all our lives.

HIV did kill many of us at the end of the previous century, but there is no question that we have emerged to thrive spectacularly in so many ways. Today a new backlash is taking hold, especially against those of us who dare to express gender in authentic but unorthodox ways. There is no certainty about how we are to win this battle, but there can be no doubt that we will once again prevail.

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.fruitboxtheatre.com.au

Review: Wally (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Jan 24 – Feb 8, 2025
Playwright: Nick Vagne
Director: Amelia Gilday
Cast: Alicia Badger, Andrew Badger, Madison Chippendale, Lana Filies, Tammie Harper, Iley Jones, Suz Mawer, Nick Vagne, Chad Traupmann
Images by Amelia Gilday

Theatre review
Lou and Suzie have lost their young son, and as they try to mourn his passing, shocking revelations about circumstances around his death are making things even harder. Wally by Nick Vagne is a murder mystery that takes its drama to risky spaces involving the tricky subject of child abuse. Some might consider it a valuable initiation of discussions on the subject, and others might think it sensationalist. In any case, viewers will need to be prepared to be exposed to these sensitive issues, even if the staging is careful to not be excessive with its enactments.

Directed by Amelia Gilday, Wally proves an intriguing experience, if slightly confusing in sections, with the inclusion of red herrings and tangents to the narrative, that are typical of the genre. Set and costume designs by Margot Politis offer simple solutions, for scenic locations and character types. Lights by Alicia Badger, along with sounds by Frank Dwyer, are particularly effective in the enhancement of tension for this dark story.

Actor Madison Chippendale plays Lou with convincing emotional intensity, and Suz Mawer as Suzie provides a foundation of authenticity, so that the show communicates at some level of validity. Abilities of other cast members are mixed, but there is sufficient commitment by all, to keep our attention sustained throughout. The stakes are so high in Wally that when we get to the revelatory end, the pay off that we uncover, was probably always going to be somewhat underwhelming.

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.moonbureau.com

Review: The Pigeons (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Dec 7 – 21, 2024
Playwright: David Gieselmann
Director: Eugene Lynch
Cast: Tel Benjamin, Lib Campbell, Micaela Ellis, Kath Gordon, Jackson Hurwood, Kandice Joy, Mark Langham, Andrew Lindqvist, Dominic Lui
Images by Justin Cueno

Theatre review
Robert has had enough of the rat race and is calling it quits. Things in the office are always chaotic anyway, so his disappearance seems not to have changed the tone of daily life very much. Any interpretation of its narrative however, is probably not of much importance for David Gieselmann’s The Pigeons, in which form and style take precedence over actual content or story.

Direction by Eugene Lynch, along with choreography by Cassidy McDermott-Smith, introduce a great amount of frenzied energy to the piece, but never quite draws us into any real fascination with the artistic experimentations taking place on stage, only becoming increasingly alienating over the course. The cast can be credited for their undeniable investment into the experience, with players like Tel Benjamin, Lib Campbell and Kath Gordon leaving good impressions with their rendering of comedic moments when opportunities arise.

Costumes by Lily Mateljan may only mimic dreary aspects of humdrum normalcy, but a moment of extraordinary absurdity involving a necktie, certainly proves delightful. An adaptive set design by Lochie Odgers too delivers an element of surprise in later portions of the show. Lights by Topaz Marlay-Cole are well considered, but available equipment proves restrictive in the implementation of the designer’s more creative ideas. Music and sounds by Christine Pan, often delightfully performed live, are effective in reminding our sensibilities to venture somewhere surreal.

Pigeons have a homing instinct that means they always come back. Our human nature can be thought of as something that always wishes to return to square one, but evidence suggests that we are capable of breaking out and moving forward. Art especially should have the capacity to resist repetition, and our artists can be relied on, to introduce new ways of thinking and being, even if the ways they choose to challenge us, can be difficult.

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.theothertheatre.com.au

Review: People Will Think You Don’t Love Me (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Nov 15 – 30, 2024
Playwright: Joanna Erskine
Director: Jules Billington
Cast: Ruby Maishman, Tom Matthews, Grace Naoum
Images by Phil Erbacher

Theatre review
Michael has had a heart transplant, but it seems that he may have inherited more than just Rick’s organ. People Will Think You Don’t Love Me by Joanna Erskine is an intriguing work about consciousness and sentience, particularly how they intersect with human biology. Full of fascinating speculations, Erskine’s play brings into the domestic realm, some of the biggest questions about the mind — where it resides, and how it can transform. 

Direction by Jules Billington brings great focus to these intimate explorations, highly compelling with their ability to make believable, these often outlandish conjectures. There is however a diminishment of dramatic intensity, in concluding portions of the show where we are poised in expectation of an escalation. Its cerebral quality though, does fortunately persist to the end, for a satisfying experience that is likely to remain with viewers long after the curtain call.

Sam Wylie’s production design is a visually pleasing amalgamation of locations, successful at representing the various settings, and accurate with costuming that illustrates the regular Sydney folk we encounter in the story. Wylie’s lights operate well to encourage our sentimental responses, but can afford to be more ambitious in segments that veer into surreal territory. Sounds and music by Clare Hennessy are extremely delicate, memorable for their efficacy at bringing subtle tension, to these scenes of mounting discord.

A strong cast of three presents People Will Think You Don’t Love Me with admirable deliberation and detail. Tom Matthews brings a valuable naturalism to the role of Michael, to keep us invested and persuaded of the play’s extravagant musings. Playing Michael’s wife Elizabeth, is Grace Naoum who introduces urgency whenever required, and is always convincing when portraying the anxiety navigated by someone under constant stress. The organ donor’s partner Tomasina is depicted by Ruby Maishman with a wonderful idiosyncrasy that makes her character feel familiar and realistic. The compelling chemistry between actors is a marvellous feature, especially when unexpected humour arises, in this otherwise quite sombre staging.

In the enactment of our capitalistic lives, there is often insufficient care and respect for the bodies we inhabit. The heart, soul and mind are often relegated to something almost abstract, even though we know them to be absolutely central. We often fall into thinking ourselves as somewhat ephemeral, whilst simultaneously mistreating our corporeality, endlessly making bodies serve their capitalistic purposes of productivity, and ignoring their more esoteric capacities. Love and the human spirit are real, and they could very well be living not in the ether, but in all of our blood, skin, flesh and bones.

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.facebook.com/littletrojantheatre

Review: Hedda Gabler (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Oct 18 – Nov 2, 2024
Playwright: Anthony Skuse (after Henrik Ibsen)
Director: Anthony Skuse
Cast: Jane Angharad, Jack Angwin, Suzann James, Christie Mae, Ella Prince, James Smithers, Christopher Tomkinson
Images by Braiden Toko

Theatre review
Hedda did not have many options in life, being a woman in the 19th century. She went with the most sensible route and chose the best candidate for a successful married life, but found only bitter resentment. Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler exposes what it is often like, for women who obey the rules in patriarchal systems that offer little more than illusory promises.

This short and sharp adaptation by Anthony Skuse goes straight to the point of Hedda’s discontent. Indeed, there is no real need to explain her exasperation, in a world we know that is determined to prevent women from attaining true fulfilment. Skuse’s succinct dialogue delivers a condensed experience of Hedda Gabler, one that retains entirely the moral of the story. There is an inevitable reduction in tension leading up to the dramatic climax, but there is a newfound velocity to this iteration of the 1891 story that proves invigorating.

Set design by James Smithers delivers clean lines for a simplified representation of Hedda’s home. Max Shaw’s costumes help depict with accuracy, the social status and relevant epoch being explored. Travis Kecek’s lights are uncomplicated, but effective in guiding us through shifts in temperament. Live music by Christie Mae on the piano, render scene transitions with fluidity and reflectiveness.

Actor Ella Prince takes on the lead role with blistering intensity if slightly lacking in subtlety, for moments when allusions are more than sufficient in drawing us into Hedda’s troubled mind. Jack Angwin and Christopher Tomkinson bring wonderful richness to their portrayals of auxiliary men in Hedda’s life, both performers offering marvellous intrigue and a palpable sense of danger to the narrative.

No single person in Hedda’s orbit can be held liable for her demise. We understand that it is the grander scheme of things, that drives her to destruction. No one is individually responsible, yet we are all culpable, in upholding systems that fail the majority. Hedda’s material withdrawal from adversity can be considered futile, especially in karmic terms; a person’s body may leave this realm, but their presence is never really dissolved. Whether we believe that one returns in cycles, or we simply look at prevailing structures that are relentless in regulating lives over generations, it is clear that retreating from the struggle is ineffectual. It is in the commitment to finding solutions, that we can hope to approach something like exaltation.

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.secrethouse.com.au

Review: All Boys (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Sep 6 – 21, 2024
Playwright: Xavier Hazard
Director: Mehhma Malhi
Cast: Ashan Kumar, Braeden Caddy, Faisal Hamza, Harry Stacey, Jackson Hurwood, Jasper Lee-Lindsay, Leon Walshe, Louis Delaunay-Henbest, Robert Miniter, Toby Carey, Victor Y Z Xu
Images by Nicholas Warrand

Theatre review
Xavier Hazard’s All Boys takes place over 6 years, in the previous decade, at a Catholic boarding school for boys. As a site of germination for the patriarchy, institutions like these profess to cultivate leaders of the future, but are in fact committed to preserving the many ills that are foundational to the  dysfunctions and inequities of Australian life.

We see in the play, boys learning to become their fathers, in a world devoid of womanhood; they are capable of doing good, but the system engenders and normalises a lot of extremely bad behaviour. This process of indoctrination provides for All Boys its riveting sense of drama, as we watch the young at crossroads, being propelled towards negative outcomes by an establishment obsessed with its elite status. Hazard’s acute observations are expressed in the most sophisticated manner, never overwrought but always powerful, for a work that will resonate especially with those it seeks to represent.

Direction by Mehhma Malhi is correspondingly refined, notable for its trust in the audience’s discernment. Malhi’s show avoids obvious manoeuvres, but is consistently magnetic, having us enthralled for its entirety. It provokes big questions, without ever being on the nose with any of them. 11 excellent actors are perfectly cast; each character is distinct and credible. They bring a wonderful inventiveness to their interpretations of the text, along with an admirable level of commitment that insists on our attention, and our careful scrutiny on the subject matter.

Set design Rebecca Howarth helps the ensemble facilitate a great range of visual compositions, along with costumes, also by Howarth, that impress with their nuanced carving out of individual personalities. Lights by Isobel Morrissey deliver surprising variation to the imagery, and are effective in manufacturing  atmosphere and tension appropriate to each scene. Amy Norton’s sound design is very subtly rendered, but fascinating in its approach at creating suitable focus for the vacillating sensibilities that All Boys inspires.

We see the boys being terrible, and wonder how this comes to be. None of it is intentional, yet culpability resides entirely on those who birth and raise them. We say that all we ever want, is to provide the best education and development, and that none of these negative consequences are part of the plan. We then continue enacting the same systems that produce the same old results. 

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.instagram.com/every_other_

Review: The Arrogance (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Jul 26 – Aug 10, 2024
Playwright: Olivia Clement
Director: Lucinda Gleeson
Cast: Alan Glover, Whitney Richard, Linden Wilkinson
Images by Georgia Brogan

Theatre review
Amber is pregnant, and thinking about becoming a parent is forcing a confrontation, with traumas from her own childhood. Olivia Clement’s The Arrogance takes an intimate look at a woman in the throes of a difficult healing process, compelled by a sense of responsibility for the life she is birthing. Many of us understand the tendency to ignore these lingering pangs of anguish, but Clement’s writing makes it clear that there often comes a time, when a person simply has to face up to them, and work towards a sense of peace, impossible as it may seem. 

That tumult is given authentic expression by director Lucinda Gleeson, who honours those challenging feelings that someone like Amber would have, in a presentation that makes coherent what we know to be disjointed and painful. Production design by Soham Apte delves into the darkness of the protagonist’s inner life, to deal with themes of flourishment and decay through its evocative visual symbolism. Lights by Sophie Parker imbue dramatic intensity, as do sounds by Aisling Bermingham and music by Baran Yildiz, all sensitively rendered yet highly effective in conveying the despair being examined.

Actor Whitney Richard is an engaging presence, and completely believable as Amber, with an impressive emotional range that tells her story with clarity and potency. Alan Glover and Linden Wilkinson provide strong support, in complex roles that are thought-provoking and unpredictable, prompting us to consider the implications of forgiveness, in a play that very much wishes to explore how and if we can leave the past behind.

Amber’s parental figures are very flawed, but she is learning not to take on the burden of their misdeeds. We observe her need to extricate from historical sins and dysfunctions, if only for the sake of her baby. The idea of a clean slate holds tremendous appeal, but the truth is that we will always carry with us lessons of the past. It is how we continuously process them, and the ways we are able to emerge from them, that give meaning to life and its creation.

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.instagram.com/winky_and_co

Review: Too Human (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Jul 5 – 20, 2024
Playwright: Michael McStay
Director: Sammy Jing
Cast: Luisa Galloway, Jasper Lee-Lindsay, Rhiaan Marquez, Mason Phoumirath, Lachie Pringle, Rachel Seeto
Images by Phil Erbacher

Theatre review
Monty is in Year 8, and because she looks different from others at school, is having an inordinately hard time trying to fit in. Michael McStay’s Too Human is a witty return to the classic teen comedy, dealing with themes of acceptance and emancipation. With a narrative that might be considered intentionally trite, it is the sparkling dialogue and kooky characters that really leave an impression. We know exactly where the story is to conclude, but the journey is nonetheless enjoyable, and often thoroughly amusing.

Inventive direction by Sammy Jing keeps us fascinated, in a show that proves inexhaustibly mischievous and fun. Monty is played by Rhiaan Marquez, who convinces with her depictions of desperation amidst social ostracism. Jasper Lee-Lindsay and Rachel Seeto steal the show as Andy and Lewis respectively, both actors expertly balancing comedy with pathos, in portrayals of teenage angst that surprise with their poignancy. Other members of the likeable cast are Luisa Galloway, Mason Phoumirath and Lachie Pringle, all wonderfully humorous and equally committed to the cause.

Production design by Hannah Tayler comprises an archetypal interpretation of life on the schoolyard, with clever costumes full of idiosyncratic personality and a marvellous sense of fantasy. Lights by Emma van Veen and Paris Bell are wonderful in their colourfulness, commendable for the exuberance they bring to proceedings. Ambitious sounds by Felix Partos, with zany songs by Gabbi Bolt, too are effective in creating aural dynamism that keeps the atmosphere consistently buoyant and energetic.

The young ones in Too Human are talked about as half-human and half-animal, which seems to be terminology that engenders notions of incompleteness, rather than multitude. They are in fact of double species, and have the potential to be twice as interesting, if not twice as resourceful. How we name ourselves run the risk of attributing deficiency and inferiority, to beings who are perfect and whole. It may be an exaggeration to say that language means everything, but it is hard to imagine any phenomenon being defined without words, whether careless or impeccable.

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.liminalproductions.au